Uranium Price History: Monthly Spot Price Since 1992
Uranium price history: what the monthly spot U3O8 series (IMF, FRED PURANUSDM) measures since 1992, its pitfalls and regimes. The series is not reproduced here.
Uranium fuels nuclear power, which supplies around a tenth of global electricity. Its price is unusually sentiment-driven and tied to nuclear policy rather than the day-to-day economic cycle. This page documents the monthly spot U3O8 price in US dollars per pound published since 1992 in the IMF commodity price series (FRED code PURANUSDM), which the IMF attributes to NUEXCO, without reproducing it. Kazakhstan is the largest producer, supplying around 40% of world output.
Series: uranium spot price (U3O8) in USD per pound, IMF via FRED (PURANUSDM, from 1992) · not reproduced on this page
The dataset file is not offered for download: the World Bank Pink Sheet does not publish uranium, and the IMF attributes its uranium series (FRED PURANUSDM) to NUEXCO, a third-party price reporter. The series is not reproduced on this page either, whether as a chart, a table of values or a file. It can be consulted at its source: FRED, series PURANUSDM. The figures quoted below are dated monthly averages of that series, cited for reference.
Macro Takeaway
Uranium is the energy commodity least tied to the daily economic cycle and most tied to policy and sentiment: a single reactor disaster or a wave of new-build commitments can reset demand for years. That makes it behave very differently from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.
The arc is dramatic: a 2007 speculative bubble drove uranium to a record near $136 per pound; the 2011 Fukushima disaster then collapsed demand into a “lost decade”, reaching a low monthly average of $18.57 per pound in November 2016. A nuclear revival lifted the monthly average to $81.32 in February 2024, its highest since January 2008, before a pullback. It is increasingly framed as an energy-transition play alongside crude oil.
Dataset Overview
| Indicator | Global Price of Uranium (1992–2026) |
|---|---|
| Geography | Kazakhstan (largest producer, ~40%), Canada, Namibia, Australia, Russia |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Period | 1992–2026 |
| Format | Not offered for download (third-party data) |
| Sources | IMF commodity price series for uranium (FRED series PURANUSDM), attributed by the IMF to NUEXCO; described, not reproduced |
Methodology
The reference series is the IMF uranium price in US dollars per pound, based on the spot price of U3O8, which the IMF attributes to NUEXCO; it is published on FRED under the identifier PURANUSDM.
Values are monthly averages, which smooth the intra-month swings visible in daily futures and physical quotes. The series begins in 1992.
Eco3min does not reproduce the series. The World Bank Pink Sheet, the source of Eco3min’s other commodity prices since 30 September 2026, does not publish uranium, and the IMF series rests on a third-party price reporter. The file and the chart previously published on this page were withdrawn on 30 September 2026.
Data Quality & Provider Notes
The points below describe the reference series, which Eco3min does not reproduce.
- Release latency. The IMF publishes Primary Commodity Prices monthly, typically in the first week of the following month. FRED ingests the update shortly after. The series is not a real-time price.
- Monthly average vs futures spot. This series is a monthly average. It will differ from any single exchange settlement, and a monthly average necessarily understates intra-month peaks.
- Revisions. Prices are market-derived and not subject to the vintage revisions of survey-based macro series, though the IMF can restate recent observations.
- Alternative sources. ICE futures and the originating auction or indicator bodies provide higher-frequency or contract-specific quotes.
Common Pitfalls When Using This Series
- Confusing nominal and real prices. This series is nominal. Comparing an early-1990s reading to a recent one without adjusting for cumulative inflation overstates the real change. Deflating by CPI gives the true purchasing-power move.
- Reading the monthly average as a market price. Headlines quote exchange futures; the reference series is a monthly benchmark average. The two diverge most during fast-moving rallies.
- Unit confusion. This series is the spot U3O8 price; most uranium is actually sold under long-term utility contracts at different prices, so the volatile spot price is not what most reactors pay.
Historical Regimes
1992–2003: Low and stable. Post-Cold-War secondary supply (down-blended weapons material) kept uranium cheap, below $20 per pound.
2004–2007: Speculative bubble. Supply disruptions and speculative demand drove uranium to an all-time high monthly average of $136.22 per pound in June 2007.
2008–2010: Crash. The financial crisis sent uranium below $50 per pound.
2011–2019: The Fukushima lost decade. The 2011 Fukushima disaster, which shut Japan’s and Germany’s reactors, collapsed demand; uranium bottomed at a monthly average of $18.57 per pound in November 2016.
2020–2024: Nuclear revival. Producer supply cuts and renewed nuclear commitments drove a rally that lifted the monthly average to $81.32 per pound in February 2024, its highest since January 2008.
2024–2026: Pullback. Prices retreated from the 2024 peak as supply responded.
Related Macroeconomic Datasets
- Coal Price: the power-generation fuel
- European Natural Gas (TTF) Price: the European gas benchmark
- WTI Crude Oil Price: the US oil benchmark
- LNG Japan Price: the Asian gas benchmark
- Brent Crude Oil Price: the global oil benchmark
Commodity Price Hub
This page is part of the Eco3min commodity price repository: energy, metals, agricultural softs and grains, most of them from the World Bank Pink Sheet. Uranium is described there without being reproduced.
Explore the Commodity Price Hub
Sources
- International Monetary Fund, commodity price series for uranium, attributed to NUEXCO (described, not reproduced)
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED, series PURANUSDM
Dataset Reference
Last updated — 5 November 2026
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